Fantastic 4: A Comic Book Guru Rant

FOX has a record of releasing great films only to be soured by the multiple failures they have had in pleasing their overall fan base.  For every success FOX Studios has had with Star Wars (pre-Disney) and The Simpsons, there are failures including Firefly, Terra Nova, Almost Human, Fantastic Four (2005), its sequel, and now the reboot Fantastic 4 (2015).  However, for all the failures FOX has had, perhaps this time it is not the fault of the studio itself; though some blame still needs to be laid at FOX’s feet.

I, the self-proclaimed and thus true apparent Comic Book Guru, have not seen the rebooted film Fantastic 4; I have no plans to either.  Honestly, the Fantastic Four as a comic book series has never appealed to me as a reader.  I do like them in a supporting capacity in mainstream storylines like “The Onslaught Saga”, “The Civil War”, and such story arcs which cross over multiple titles.

Although I have not read many of the comic books, I still see the appeal in them and I still want to see a good movie adaptation of the Fantastic Four.  After all, the FF was the genesis of the Marvel Comics Universe.  It was the first title Stan Lee and Jack Kirby put to paper all those years ago, and from that genesis came Spider-man, the Hulk, the Avengers, and so forth and so on. 

So when the 2005 adaptation of the FF came out, I went to see it.  I might never have read the comics, but I was still familiar with the characters.  I was sadly disappointed in the treatment the 2005 movie gave the FF, particularly the revamping of Doctor Doom.  When the sequel came out, I thought it was a step in the right direction but poor execution of the plot and the representation of Galactus casted a long shadow of disappointment.  After Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer failed to impress, any further releases under the FF banner went silent.

That was until the rise of Marvel Studios and their Cinematic Universe (MCU), and merger with Disney that FOX Studios hopped on board to reboot the Fantastic Four.  Why?  Because any further delay in producing the movie based on the property would cause said property to revert back to Marvel Comics, and thus the characters could be used for the MCU. 

It is this fear of property reversion to their source of origin that caused Sony Studios to reboot Spider-man so quickly after the last Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire film, and furthermore for FOX to produce more X-Men films.  There is a shelf life on these properties when sold to the studios.  Sony has learned from their mistakes and reached out to Disney/Marvel Studios, brokered a deal, and now Spider-man will appear in the MCU under the banners of both Disney and Marvel, and Sony.

FOX Studios; however, is stubborn.  If they had not pushed for this reboot then they would have lost the rights, and we the fans would see Reed Richards discussing quantum physics with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.

However, like I said in the introduction of this blog, the complete blame cannot lie with FOX Studios.  Barely a week prior to the release of the reboot Fantastic 4 (already released as I type this), the lead actor Miles Teller, aka Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic states the film may be poorly received by the critics.  The lead actor is telling reporters that the film, before it is released to the public, MAY BE poorly received!  That is a bad sign. 

Yet he was right; the film has received poor ratings from critics.  However, many true filmgoers like me really do not pay attention to critics.  After all, most critics are looking for the next Gone With the Wind, or some great social agenda piece of film.  They are blinded by that and thus do not care that The Avengers (2012) made over a billion dollars during its theatrical run.  So even with the Fantastic Four reboot receiving negative reviews from the critics, maybe this could have been another indication that the critics do not have a clue as to what moviegoers are watching.

Then the Director Josh Trank speaks up to blame the studios (FOX) and states the version he had envisioned a year ago was basically trashed by the studios in order to rush this film.  Not so fast Trank.  Maybe FOX are a bunch of idiotic douchebags; see X-Men Origins: Wolverine as proof.  However, under the FOX banner lies the successful X-Men film franchise (except for the above mentioned Wolverine film and X-Men: Last Stand) and the firm directing hand of Bryan Singer.  Under the same studio, Bryan Singer has had his way whenever he has been directly involved in the X-Men franchise and led the franchise to success.  So Director Josh Trank, what is your excuse now?

The truth is no matter how “douchebaggery” a studio may be, it is still the responsibility of the directors, the writers, and the producers to deliver and execute a film that represents in high quality the property they were hired to produce.  The actors need to do the same.  I was watching The Avengers last night (6 AUG 2015) on FX, and during the commercial breaks the FF (2015) actors were discussing the film.  They seemed completely lost, and lacked all sense of enthusiasm for this film.  The actress portraying Sue Storm, aka Invisible Girl had the “deer looking in the headlights” expression while discussing the film.

I suspect this film will bomb the box office.  FOX has already mentioned they are planning a sequel, but I hope they seriously reconsider it and just let their hold on this property lapse.  I would wager FOX will never strike a deal with Disney/Marvel with the FF because then that would have to open the door concerning the X-Men properties.  So please FOX, just let the property go back to Marvel.

To Josh Trank and Miles Teller, if you have that much lack of faith in your work, then leave Hollywood; or at the very least never touch a superhero property again.  Else you will face the ever boisterous, but pretty much harmless wrath of the self-proclaimed thus truth apparent Comic Book Guru!!!